There is nothing free for the teams or for that matter the fans with the free agency period kicking off as we speak in the NBA. This is a much anticipated anticipated off-season due to a variety of reasons. NBA fans have been waiting for this summer since the new TV deal was announced almost 2 years ago. It will finally kick in now and push the salary cap past 94 million from the current 70 million. Thats a good 35% jump and it's expected to jump even more next year. So it's going to be a wild ride and it's literally going to rain millions on these ballers. The other reason this is big is because of Kevin Durant. He is a free agent and is talking to teams. Enough said! Last but not the least, the NBA is coming off an awesome playoffs where the individual games may not have been interesting, but the larger story-lines were gripping to say the least. This was followed by a fascinating draft with some intrigue and trades. So the interest in the association is currently high and the NBA fans are jonesing for any and all NBA news at this point.
Durant is the catch this year, though LeBron is also a free agent. I guess the King's camp has not planted any stories or sent feelers to any team. So it's assumed he stays in Cleveland and all eyes are on Durant instead. Warriors are among 6 teams including the Thunder that are legitimately chasing him. The Bay Area is still recovering from the finals. Fans can't wait for the start of the next season because they are so confident they are the best team and they will win it all again and avenge this season's defeat. I am not sure about all that, but I do agree with them in that they were at least the better team against the Cavs and lost mostly because the MVP didn't show up for the last 3 games and Klay didn't either in game 7. Now the Bay is buzzing with Durant talk. But the latest reports suggest that he might stay back in OKC. That warms my small-market liking, underdog supporting, home-grown talent craving cockles.
It's indeed a tantalizing prospect for all parties involved (except OKC of course) to imagine Durant with the Splash brothers, Iggy, and Draymond. The Warrior fans might want this not so much for what Durant can do for them, but more so for depleting the Thunder who finished the season looking every bit as good as the dubs, if not better. OKC has since traded Ibaka for Oladipo - a trade most people score for the Thunder, though I am still skeptical. Now there are rumors of them chasing Al Horford. Add another year of maturity to Steven Adams and another year under Billy Donovan, the Thunder may very well enter next season as the sexy pick more so than the Warriors. Of course it all starts with Durant and he should sign with them soon unless one of these other teams totally wows him during his meetings in Hampton. It should be an interesting weekend in the NBA.
While Durant is the headline, the real shocker is going to be the money that will be thrown across the league with every team having cap room to go with a desire to improve. DeMar DeRozan and Bradley Beal are both already signed with max contracts pushing 130 mill over 5 years! Kent Bazemore is supposedly worth 18 million a year and thats all you need to know to feel the craziness of this off season. Just to give you a perspective on the sky rocketing salaries, the aforementioned numbers dwarf the league MVP Curry's contract. Granted, Curry is in a unique, team friendly contract situation due to his injuries at the time of his signing and even Klay and Draymond are making upwards of 50% more money than Curry per year. But now we are going to see glorified role players like Bazemore make 65% more per year than Curry. And mediocre all-stars like DeRozan and Beal are going to make 130% more than Curry! The MVP can't wait for next year when he will be a free agent.
Speaking of Bazemore, supposedly Suns are interested in him as well. Suns are coming off a good draft where they drafted Dragan Bender at 4 and traded up to get Marquese Chriss at 8. Both are big guys with a lot of promise, though their games and bodies are very different. I was tempted by Kris Dunn at 4 since that guy is an awesome 2-way guard, but the Suns decided to draft for position rather than get another PG. I don't have major issues with it, but I do have to say that Dunn will probably be better than Bledsoe and Knight longer term. Now the Suns are trying to trade and sign some talent in free agency. It's a competitive market and I don't expect them to sign big names, but hope they get some good players and more importantly, don't overpay for bad players. Gone are the days when mediocre teams can sign stars if they had the money. Now, you have to either build your own stars via draft (think Warriors today or the TWolves tomorrow) or have enough money to lure 2 or 3 stars to join you to form a super team. Stars want a readymade situation that will put them in contention right away. Of course, you need some talent in-house to even lure those multiple stars to join and it's easier said than done to have all of this align perfectly.
Suns are clearly not there as far as a free agent destination this year and they are in the build through draft mode. Of course with Devin Booker, Bender, and to a lesser extent Alex Len and Chriss, they have a decent starting point. It would be nice to dump a couple of salaries at redundant positions like Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler. But honestly, by this time next year, those large salaries will look like a steal in the new cap regime. It may not be a bad idea for the Suns to just keep them. Either way, lets enjoy the league-wide craziness this July. NBA off-seasons lately have been more interesting and intriguing that the regular season. But this year, NBA has delivered on all fronts throughout the year and lets' hope the momentum carries in to the summer and the next season. And lets hope we don't have an ugly drama like the DeAndre Jordan nightmare that Mark Cuban is still living through from last year's free agency. Keep it clean ballers!
Durant is the catch this year, though LeBron is also a free agent. I guess the King's camp has not planted any stories or sent feelers to any team. So it's assumed he stays in Cleveland and all eyes are on Durant instead. Warriors are among 6 teams including the Thunder that are legitimately chasing him. The Bay Area is still recovering from the finals. Fans can't wait for the start of the next season because they are so confident they are the best team and they will win it all again and avenge this season's defeat. I am not sure about all that, but I do agree with them in that they were at least the better team against the Cavs and lost mostly because the MVP didn't show up for the last 3 games and Klay didn't either in game 7. Now the Bay is buzzing with Durant talk. But the latest reports suggest that he might stay back in OKC. That warms my small-market liking, underdog supporting, home-grown talent craving cockles.
It's indeed a tantalizing prospect for all parties involved (except OKC of course) to imagine Durant with the Splash brothers, Iggy, and Draymond. The Warrior fans might want this not so much for what Durant can do for them, but more so for depleting the Thunder who finished the season looking every bit as good as the dubs, if not better. OKC has since traded Ibaka for Oladipo - a trade most people score for the Thunder, though I am still skeptical. Now there are rumors of them chasing Al Horford. Add another year of maturity to Steven Adams and another year under Billy Donovan, the Thunder may very well enter next season as the sexy pick more so than the Warriors. Of course it all starts with Durant and he should sign with them soon unless one of these other teams totally wows him during his meetings in Hampton. It should be an interesting weekend in the NBA.
While Durant is the headline, the real shocker is going to be the money that will be thrown across the league with every team having cap room to go with a desire to improve. DeMar DeRozan and Bradley Beal are both already signed with max contracts pushing 130 mill over 5 years! Kent Bazemore is supposedly worth 18 million a year and thats all you need to know to feel the craziness of this off season. Just to give you a perspective on the sky rocketing salaries, the aforementioned numbers dwarf the league MVP Curry's contract. Granted, Curry is in a unique, team friendly contract situation due to his injuries at the time of his signing and even Klay and Draymond are making upwards of 50% more money than Curry per year. But now we are going to see glorified role players like Bazemore make 65% more per year than Curry. And mediocre all-stars like DeRozan and Beal are going to make 130% more than Curry! The MVP can't wait for next year when he will be a free agent.
Speaking of Bazemore, supposedly Suns are interested in him as well. Suns are coming off a good draft where they drafted Dragan Bender at 4 and traded up to get Marquese Chriss at 8. Both are big guys with a lot of promise, though their games and bodies are very different. I was tempted by Kris Dunn at 4 since that guy is an awesome 2-way guard, but the Suns decided to draft for position rather than get another PG. I don't have major issues with it, but I do have to say that Dunn will probably be better than Bledsoe and Knight longer term. Now the Suns are trying to trade and sign some talent in free agency. It's a competitive market and I don't expect them to sign big names, but hope they get some good players and more importantly, don't overpay for bad players. Gone are the days when mediocre teams can sign stars if they had the money. Now, you have to either build your own stars via draft (think Warriors today or the TWolves tomorrow) or have enough money to lure 2 or 3 stars to join you to form a super team. Stars want a readymade situation that will put them in contention right away. Of course, you need some talent in-house to even lure those multiple stars to join and it's easier said than done to have all of this align perfectly.
Suns are clearly not there as far as a free agent destination this year and they are in the build through draft mode. Of course with Devin Booker, Bender, and to a lesser extent Alex Len and Chriss, they have a decent starting point. It would be nice to dump a couple of salaries at redundant positions like Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler. But honestly, by this time next year, those large salaries will look like a steal in the new cap regime. It may not be a bad idea for the Suns to just keep them. Either way, lets enjoy the league-wide craziness this July. NBA off-seasons lately have been more interesting and intriguing that the regular season. But this year, NBA has delivered on all fronts throughout the year and lets' hope the momentum carries in to the summer and the next season. And lets hope we don't have an ugly drama like the DeAndre Jordan nightmare that Mark Cuban is still living through from last year's free agency. Keep it clean ballers!
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